


Rules are Made to be Broken

by LembraginiCC



Category: RWBY
Genre: Clover Ebi (mentioned) - Freeform, M/M, Spoilers: Volume 8 (RWBY), Staff of Creation (RWBY), Staff theory, spoilers: v08e12 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 01:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30030702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LembraginiCC/pseuds/LembraginiCC
Summary: The Gods created this mess. Why should their rule be Law?
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, qrow branwen & ambrosius
Comments: 11
Kudos: 57





	Rules are Made to be Broken

Qrow took a deep breath, tightening his grip on the Staff. The material was cool in his palms, like metal.

Releasing the breath, he raised the Staff. Blue smoke poured from the crystal and materialized in the form of a giant man.

The being, Ambrosius, stretched his arms out with a big sigh, “Here I am, the being of Creation, here to bestow upon you almost whatever your heart may desire.” He bent forward, resting his head in his palm as he inspected Qrow.

Qrow fixed his eyes on the man. He prepared for this.

“You’ve said that it’s against the rules to bring back the dead.” Ambrosius raised an eyebrow. “Not that it wasn’t in your ability.”

Ambrosius smiled, then chuckled, twisting in the air.

“I see. Let me guess, you’ve lost someone dear to you and now you want to bring them back, hmmm?” Qrow heard the mocking tilt to his voice and grit his teeth. “You wouldn’t be the first to ask, and you won’t be the last. It’s best to just move on and-”

“No.”

Ambrosius stilled, looking shocked. He uncurled and gave Qrow a closer look. “Excuse me?” sounding more curious than offended.

“You can’t create something new without your last creation being destroyed, I get that. But I have his body and,” Qrow choked, knuckles whitening on the Staff. He took another breath, “I have remnants of his aura. I’m sure you can make something of that.”

“’Remnants of his aura’ you say…” Ambrosius held his chin in thought. He hummed, “That doesn’t seem to be enough. This man is dead and will need more than that if he’s to _stay_ alive if someone in his lifetime comes to me for Creation.”

“Why not?”

“Hm?”

“Why isn’t it enough? The Gods granted you and the other beings in the relics with their own power. They had the ability to resurrect the dead. Why can’t you?”

Ambrosius peered at Qrow, coming ever closer. Qrow’s heart pounded just a bit faster, but he remained steadfast, not breaking eye contact or flinching.

“That is true. Each relic has some power from the Gods. However, the Gods have commanded that-”

“ _Fuck_ the Gods!” Qrow snarled, interrupting Ambrosius a second time. And just like before, he merely adopted a surprised expression, inspecting Qrow from different angles. “It’s _their_ fault that this war even exists. By trying to teach Salem a lesson with immortality, they’ve condemned the world to suffer under her hand. And the God of Light had the audacity to bring back Ozma after telling Salem ‘no,’ cursing him with unending life and death.” Qrow took a deep breath.

Ambrosius stayed silent. Floating mere feet from Qrow, dwarfing him, he observed Qrow with a tilted head. Qrow regained his composure and continued, “Ozma died of natural causes, of sickness. Clover-the man I want to bring back- was murdered by one of Salem’s assassins. Neither of them deserved to die, but Clover deserves a second chance, too. And if you’re only excuse to deny me is ‘the Gods said not to,’ then that’s bullshit!” Qrow was breathing heavily. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw one side of Ambrosius’s mouth curl up.

Qrow glared at him, eyes watering. “Salem was arrogant in trying to destroy the Gods. The Gods were arrogant by killing humanity and abandoning the rest of us to Salem’s whims. The Gods are  _gone_ .  If they’re your only excuse for not bringing Clover back-”

“Wait.” Qrow froze. His voice was calm, but it’s firmness made Qrow uneasy. Qrow swallowed, looking into the Being’s eyes.

“As I’ve said, I won’t bring back the dead.” Cold, blue eyes stared unrelenting into Qrow’s. For a moment, he lost his breath, ice creeping up his spine. He stifled a sob, his knees were growing weak, but.

Wait.

Qrow froze again. He lost himself in those eyes, thinking hard.

Ambrosius stared back. After a moment, he smiled.

“Now,” that smooth, satisfied voice said, “you should continue.”

Qrow swallowed. And nodded.

“I… I want you to move his aura from the pin into his body.” As he formed the words, doubt was already growing. But, before he could be swallowed by it, Ambrosius replied.

“There will be very little aura left of him. Once he awakens, he will be very weak and will require urgent medical care. If you are unprepared, he will be lost once more. Do you understand?”

Qrow stared up at him with wide eyes. Ambrosius looked… excited?

“Y-yes, I understand. And his body is already being attended to by Jaune, uh, a kid I know who amps up aura, and medical professionals, just in case I… managed to do something with the Staff.”

Ambrosius leaned back, jutting his head with a proud smirk. “Well then, it seems we’re ready.”

“What- just like that?”

Ambrosius looked down on him with a smirk. “Is this not what you wanted?”

“No! I mean, I thought it would take a bit… more… to convince you.”

Ambrosius sighed, dramatically falling over mid air. “I’ve existed for a long, long time, young one. There’ve been so few interesting requests and so many demands for bringing back a loved one. But,” he tilted his head, looking at Qrow upside down, “no one has ever cursed my Creators before.” He laughed. “Ah, I’ve been  _looking_ for a reason to have a little fun. I mean, seriously? To constrain myself and my siblings and then to pop off to a different world? Just,  _expecting_ us to obey them? That is quite- how did you say-  _arrogant_ of them isn’t it?” he smirked. 

“Now, I’m going to need that pin,” he held out a hand.

Qrow jerked out of his stupor, shakily unhooking it from his vest. As he went to give it over, it became  enclosed in blue smoke, levitating into the air in front of Ambrosius, who righted himself.

He peered at the pin with a hum, then started bouncing around from one place to another, jerking his hands in circular and linear motions as he muttered to himself. Qrow couldn’t spare much thought to watch him, too overcome by the thought of how  _close_ he was to his goal. 

Clover was coming back. Qrow’s breath came faster, and he had to lower himself to the ground to avoid falling. He carefully set the Staff down at his side, looking down at his cupped hands as he struggled to calm down and avoid a panic attack.

The pin fell into his palms. Qrow jerked his head up, seeing Ambrosius stare down at him with an expectant expression. Shakily, he grabbed the Staff and stood up.

“There is enough aura left to be transferred to Clover’s body. Shall I begin?”

Qrow’s breathing was still unsteady as he nodded sharply. Ambrosius grinned, shivers going down Qrow’s spine at the sight of the Being’s sharp teeth.

“I suggest you make your way to his body. I believe it would be… comforting, to see a familiar face,” he said with a leer.

Qrow’s eyes widened even more, before twisting and sprinting out of the room.  The last he heard from Ambrosius was his fading laughter beneath the sound of his footsteps.


End file.
